The Bad Girl and the Baby (Cutting Loose)

by Nina Croft

  Oh. “Hmm, maybe she likes me, then.” Ha, as if. She shrugged. “Whatever. Anyway, she doesn’t like ‘us.’”

  “It’s none of her business,” he said.

  “She doesn’t see it that way. Apparently, I’m going to ruin your career.”

  He frowned. “She had no right to say that.”

  Suddenly, she was tired of it all. The truth was, she would be bad for his career. If they were planning on any sort of serious relationship. But they weren’t. So it didn’t matter. Except there was this knot of something hot and almost painful inside her. She forced herself to give a casual shrug. “Just tell her it’s not serious between us. She’s worried about you.”

  He searched her face. “You sure you won’t come? I’d like you to be friends.”

  “Not this time. Maybe another day. Right now, I’ve got a date with a hot bath and a bottle of wine.”

  “Jesus, I wish I could join you.”

  “Well, you can’t.”

  “Will I see you tomorrow?”

  “If you want to.”

  “I want to.” He leaned down and kissed her, and then he was gone.

  And for some weird reason she wanted to cry. And that was scary shit.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Matt stood on the lawn of the stately home, where the wedding was taking place. Darcy had told him it was a small affair. Obviously, people’s ideas of what constituted “small” differed drastically. But it was a beautiful place—the late summer leaves were just starting to turn on the huge oak trees. Flowers of every color lined the smooth lawns. Music drifted out from the open doorway.

  Summer had arrived ten minutes ago, causing an explosion of excitement in his niece. He’d hefted her into his arms and carted her out just as her mouth opened on a scream. She’d shut it again. Once outside she’d informed him, very seriously, that she was going to vomit. She must have learned that word from Diana. It sounded odd and a little proper coming from a two-year-old.

  He’d told her it would be a shame if she made a mess over her pretty new dress, and she’d decided she wasn’t going to hurl after all.

  “You okay, sweetheart?”

  Lulu looked up at him with those big dark eyes and gave a solemn nod. “Lulu feel good. Back now?”

  “Of course we can go back.”

  He picked her up and carried her up the stone staircase and into the huge hall. The actual wedding was taking place in one of the reception rooms through a set of double doors.

  Summer hadn’t gone in yet. Instead, she was standing outside with Regan and Darcy fussing around her. The bride seemed a little agitated, and he paused to listen.

  “I told her small,” Summer said. “This isn’t small.”

  “Well, you did leave everything to his mother,” Regan replied. “She’s not what I would call a ‘small’ person.”

  “Just grit your teeth and think of the honeymoon,” Darcy added. “And, by the way, you look so beautiful I think I’m going to cry.”

  Matt’s eyes strayed to Darcy. And stopped. She looked beautiful as well. Her dress was a copy of Lulu’s, a dusky purple sheath that left her arms bare and swept down to the floor. Otherwise, she’d made little concession to the wedding, with her hair spiked, her eyes ringed in black, and a purple stud in her nose. She caught his glance and waggled her fingers. Lulu waved wildly back and started bouncing again.

  “Come on,” he murmured to her. “You can play with Darcy afterward. She has important work to do now.”

  Before Lulu could express her disapproval of that idea, he whizzed her past the small group and slipped through the doors and into the room. Chairs were set out in rows. But Darcy had been right—it wasn’t that big a wedding, maybe around fifty guests. They all looked around as he entered, probably expecting the bride. He slid into an empty chair in the back row, settling Lulu onto his lap and hoping this wouldn’t take long.

  Lulu wasn’t that good at sitting still.

  The door opened. But no bride. What the hell were they doing out there? A man entered, carrying a small dog with a purple bow in its hair. Lulu went totally immobile on his lap, her gaze fixed on the little dog.

  As the man sank into the seat next to them, Matt recognized him as Regan’s boyfriend, Nate, the ex-detective.

  “Hi,” Nate said.

  “Hi.” He nodded. “Nice…dog.” Actually, it looked more like a rat on a string. Maybe Lulu wouldn’t even realize that it was a dog.

  Nate grinned. “Don’t be rude to Trixibell. She’ll get upset.”

  Lulu reached out a hand, and the dog licked her fingers. “Woof.”

  Oh hell, he could see what was going to happen next. He looked down at his niece. She was staring, totally entranced. “Lulu want.”

  “Well, Lulu can’t have.”

  She gritted her teeth, screwed up her face—

  “Here,” Nate said quickly. He placed the end of the lead in Lulu’s small hand, and she grasped it tight, a huge smile splitting her face. Perhaps he should warn Nate that he might have a fight on his hands if he ever wanted Trixibell back. But for now, Lulu was happy. Matt shifted her onto the bench between them so she was in less danger of strangling the animal.

  “What’s happening out there?” he asked.

  “Summer’s having stage fright. She’ll be okay.”

  At the front of the church, the groom stood, visibly twitching. Every few minutes, he’d glance over his shoulder toward the door where Summer would appear. Tall, blond, he reeked of money. He remembered Darcy telling him that Summer had snagged herself a billionaire, and that she wasn’t happy about it. “What’s Summer got against billionaires?” he asked.

  “Has Darcy told you what Summer was in prison for?”

  “No.”

  “Do the two of you talk?”

  He shrugged. Matt got the impression he wasn’t particularly popular. What the hell had he done? He wasn’t his fucking brother, but he wasn’t going to defend himself, either. “So what was she in prison for?”

  “Ask Darcy.”

  “For that matter, what was Regan in prison for?”

  “Mind your own business.”

  “I’ll ask Darcy, then.”

  “Do that.”

  They were silent for a minute. Still no bride.

  “So,” Nate said. “Regan tells me you’re having a thing with Darcy.”

  His eyes narrowed. “A thing?”

  Nate waggled his brows and sent a pointed glance at Lulu, who was, for once, sitting still, spellbound by her new friend.

  “Mind your own business,” he muttered.

  “Actually, it is my business. Anything that makes Regan unhappy is my business.”

  Matt shifted in his seat so he could see the other man’s expression. “And my having a thing with Darcy is making Regan unhappy?”

  “Actually, more pissed off than unhappy. She thinks you’re using Darcy and will break her heart and mess things up with Lulu.”

  “I won’t break her heart.”

  “So you are having a thing?”

  “Jesus.” He took a deep breath, checked on Lulu; her whole attention was focused on the little dog, which had somehow managed to climb from Nate’s lap into hers, and was licking her face. “Not that it’s any of your business,” he said. “But Darcy is a grown-up. She knows what she’s doing, and there is zero chance of me breaking her heart.” What had she told Regan, though? Why would she even think he had a chance of hurting Darcy? “We don’t have that sort of relationship. We’re just friends.”

  “Yeah, of course you are. Friends who—” He broke off whatever he was going to say, though Matt had a good idea of what it was. “Friends who do other things,” he said, with a glance at Lulu.

  “Again—none of your business.”

  Nate ignored the comment. “You may think you know what you’re doing,” he said. “But believe me, the whole no-strings-attached affair never works. I know. I tried it. And you and Darcy already have strings.” He shot Lulu
another pointed glance.

  “Did Regan put you up to this?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah. As you said—it’s none of my business.”

  “And I take it you’re referring to you and Regan.”

  “We had the whole no-strings thing sorted out.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we knew it would never work out between us.”

  Now he was curious. “Again—why?”

  “I’m the detective who headed the case against her, arrested her, and was ultimately responsible for her spending nearly three years in prison.”

  Yeah, that would do it. “Shit.”

  Lulu batted him on the knee with her free hand. “Naughty, Matt.”

  “Yeah, sorry, sweetheart.” He’d thought she hadn’t been paying attention. Hah.

  “Plus,” Nate continued, “there’s the issue of her family. Well, maybe it’s best not to go there except to say that she loves them and they did not approve.”

  “But things worked out between you.”

  “And that’s my point. We set out to have a no-strings relationship and now guess what…? We’re getting married.”

  “Well, that’s nice.”

  He grinned. “It is. Best thing that ever happened to me. But it wasn’t supposed to happen. And it meant some major changes for both of us.”

  Matt presumed he meant leaving the force. “So?”

  “So…are you prepared for that?”

  Was he talking about marriage? Between him and Darcy? It was never going to happen. He’d never met two people less suited to spending their lives together. Except maybe his mom and dad. Though things were working out for them, at last. They seemed happy and settled. And it had only taken about thirty years to get there. All the same, he just wasn’t the marrying type. And neither was Darcy. She’d told him so.

  “We have it all under control.”

  Nate shook his head. “Self-delusion at its best.”

  He was saved from replying by the music starting up, and the door behind them opening.

  …

  The relief on Nik’s face made Darcy grin. But what did he expect? He knew what Summer thought about ostentatious exhibitions of wealth, and how she would react to all this fuss. But she reckoned neither of them had thought too much about the actual wedding—they’d been too focused on the marriage. They were so in love, it was freaky. But that meant they’d left the preparations to Nik’s mother—Summer’s mom had been on her own honeymoon for the last two weeks, so she hadn’t gotten involved—and Nik’s mother positively thrived on ostentatious shows of wealth, the more extravagant the better.

  It was all so gorgeous. The room, the flowers, the guests. Summer. Nik’s mom had gotten one of her designer friends to design the dress, and it suited Summer perfectly. The simple lines showed off her slender figure. She wore no jewelry, just a circle of dark blue flowers in her hair.

  And talking of beautiful things… Her gaze strayed to Matt as they passed. He looked stunning in his dress uniform. Tall and handsome and breathtakingly gorgeous. Lulu sat beside him with Trixie on her knee—that’s why they’d heard nothing from her.

  She dragged her gaze away and forced herself to focus.

  A buffet lunch had been set out in a big marquee on the lawns. Then later that evening, Nik and Summer were flying out. Off on their honeymoon. A week in Scotland. The terms of Summer’s parole didn’t allow her to leave the country, but Nik had rented a goddamn fairy-tale castle in the Highlands.

  Darcy wasn’t hungry, but she snagged a glass of champagne and stood at the edge of the tent, people-watching. She caught sight of Matt through the crowd, and something melted inside her. He had hold of Lulu’s hand, and she had hold of Trixie’s lead. The handsome soldier, the little girl, and the dog. They looked so goddamn cute. Like a family. And she wasn’t part of it.

  That shouldn’t hurt. She didn’t want a family. They just left you in the end. She was better off alone. Stronger.

  Regan came to a halt beside her. “You see him like that, with Lulu, and you have to think—he can’t be all bad.”

  “Of course he’s not all bad.” The words came out automatically. But it was a long time since she’d worried that Matt might be like his brother. He was a good man, trying to do his best in a difficult situation.

  “Oh hell, you have got it bad.”

  “No, I haven’t.” She sniffed. “I haven’t got it at all. Just because you and Summer are both crazy in love doesn’t mean I have to be as well. It’s not contagious, you know.”

  Regan came around to stand in front of her and stop her forward momentum. “Tell me you know what you’re doing.”

  “I know what I’m doing. We’re friends, that’s all.”

  “Friends with benefits.”

  One look at Regan’s face, and she knew she wasn’t going to get away with a lie. “Maybe. But it’s just sex.”

  Regan raised an eyebrow. “Hmm, where have I heard that before?”

  “It’s not like you and Nate. Matt and me—we’re polar opposites. We have nothing in common but Lulu.”

  “And sex.”

  “That’s just convenient. It’s been a while for us both.” She shrugged. “I was frustrated. He was frustrated. It just happened.”

  “Funny, it didn’t happen for either of you with anyone else.”

  She really wished Regan would leave this alone. But she guessed that wasn’t going to happen. And really, she knew that Regan was just worried about her. “We discussed it. Neither of us want anything more, but we thought it best to get the sex thing out of our systems. Then we could just be friends.”

  Regan patted her arm. “Well, good luck with that. I think you’ve been spotted. I’m going to find Nate.”

  Darcy turned around. Lulu was dragging Matt and the little dog toward her. As she got closer, she dropped his hand and the dog lead and broke into a run. “Darcy!”

  As Lulu reached her she bent down and picked her up, whirling her around. “Don’t you look pretty,” she said, putting her back on the ground as Matt joined them, Trixie at his side.

  “You pretty, too,” Lulu said. “We the same.”

  “Yes, we are.”

  “Lulu got a Trixibell,” she said, taking the lead from Matt.

  She gave Matt a smirk. “I’m thinking there might have to be a new addition to your little family in the not too distant future.”

  “Don’t,” he groaned. “Not happening. Apparently, Dianna is allergic to dogs. I think that bastard did it on purpose. I don’t think he likes me.”

  “Who? Nate?”

  “Yeah. He just gave me the third degree,” he said.

  “What about?” Though she could guess. He’d no doubt been primed by Regan.

  “He thinks—or rather, your friend Regan thinks—that I’m going to break your heart.”

  She snorted. “Never going to happen.”

  “That’s what I said.”

  And there was that funny twinge in her heart again. Bugger, she was in trouble.

  Time to get a little emotional distance.

  Chapter Sixteen

  She’d been in a hurry when she dropped Lulu off the previous day. Lulu hadn’t wanted to leave the museum—she’d been totally captivated by the mummies—and had to be bribed with the promise of ice cream on the way home. Darcy always felt like a total failure when she resorted to bribery, but she’d been meeting Regan that evening to go to the theater and was running late. She’d bet any money that the perfect Diana never needed to use the lure of ice cream.

  It hadn’t helped that, as Matt had opened the door to them, Lulu had hurled chocolate ice cream all down his smart blue button-down shirt. Where was he going anyway? They’d both said they were going to be busy, but neither had asked the details. That wasn’t the sort of relationship they had. But he’d better not be out on a date with a suitable woman. She didn’t share. Even if they weren’t serious.

  Luckily, Lulu’s regurgitated chocolate ice cream had m
anaged to avoid Darcy—lovely child—and she’d handed Lulu over and made a hasty retreat, only to be stopped at the bottom of the driveway by Matt calling her back. She’d turned around reluctantly. Matt hurried toward her, still holding Lulu—he was usually so fastidious, but the vomit didn’t seem to faze him at all. It must be all his SAS training.

  “Sunday lunch, tomorrow, here with my parents,” he’d said and disappeared back into the house before she could say yes, no, or what the hell?

  This would be their first meeting. Matt had told her that his mother felt guilty about the whole Steven thing, and she wasn’t very good at dealing with guilt. But he’d wanted them to meet before his parents returned home to Australia in a week’s time.

  So here she was. Dressed in her Sunday best. She’d actually been quite nervous when she was getting ready this morning—had even considered raiding Regan’s and Summer’s rooms for any garments they might have left behind. In the end, she’d sat herself down and given herself a talking to. It wasn’t as though she was meeting the future in-laws or anything. But she did want them to like her. Lulu didn’t have a big family, so the few people she did have owed it to her to get along. So while she hadn’t gone as far as pilfering Regan’s wardrobe, she’d done her best and was wearing an ankle length black skirt and a sleeveless white tunic, with flat black leather lace-up sandals.

  Last night had been the first night she and Matt hadn’t been together since the evening of the horrible Angie’s birthday. And she’d hated to admit it, but she’d missed him. She tried to ignore the feeling.

  Should she have brought something? Dessert. She’d stopped on the way and bought a bottle of white wine. Then she’d gone back and bought a bottle of red, just in case. She hoped they weren’t teetotalers.

  Grrr.

  Before the whole Steven thing, she’d never doubted herself like this. That failure had bitten deeply into her self-confidence. Her belief in herself. She stood on the front doorstep, took a deep breath, and rang the bell.

  The door opened immediately, and Matt stood there. His normally immaculate hair was ruffled as though he’d been running his fingers through it.

  “You’re late,” he murmured.